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To: Drumbo

Thanks for putting up Chameleon and On Green Dolphin Street! Those are great I especially like the Maynard Ferguson version. Those were part of our repetoire, and Bellavia now that I think about it, in my ensemble at Bucknell back in the day. Brings back some cool memories


1,485 posted on 01/21/2006 7:42:18 PM PST by Horatio Gates (Optimist sees the donut, pessimist sees only the hole.)
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To: Horatio Gates

Good evening Gates! How's the baby doing...running now?


1,503 posted on 01/21/2006 7:53:26 PM PST by AZamericonnie (~www.ProudPatriots.org~Operation Valentine's Day~Serving those who serve us!~)
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To: Horatio Gates

My pleasure Horatio,

A lot of these tunes brought back some great memories for me too. In '75 and '76 I was touring with the Navy Steel Band and playing gigs like Summerfest in Milwaukee, the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans and other gigs all around the states. In my travels, I got to meet a lot of famous artists like Maynard, Chuck and Gap Mangione. We played on a stage nearby the pavilion where Maynard's big band played at Summerfest and I caught every show. I introduced myself to Pete Erskine who played drums for Maynard back then (and later plyed with Weather Report) and he introduced me and some of the guys to Maynard. Maynard had just gotten huge recognition for his "Gonna Fly Now" theme from "Rocky" and was a pretty big celebrity.

I met Chuck and Gap after a concert in Rochester, New York. Chuck was already performing "Feels So Good" which became a huge hit when he released it the next year. I got friendly with the old guy selling albums, tapes and t-shirts in the lobby and he was impressed that I knew so much about Chuck and Gap's work, especially that I knew that "Bellavia" was Mom Mangione's maiden name. He asked me and some other guys in the band if we'd like to come to dinner and meet "the boys". He turned out to be Pop Mangione and we ate Mom's speghetti, the best I've ever had, as we listened to Chuck's road stories.


1,551 posted on 01/21/2006 8:19:09 PM PST by Drumbo ("Of course I have an attitude, I spent my life beating things for a living." - Drumbo Thunder)
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